The Education Authority (EA) have hit out at claims made by Unite the Union regarding temporary education workers and safeguarding checks, saying they are “factually inaccurate”.
On Monday, Unite the Union called on the Education Minister to “act to end widespread abuse of temporary engagement forms to avoid formal recruitment processes”, expressing “deep concerns for child safety in Northern Ireland”.
They based their calls on a freedom of information (FOI) response from the EA which they say confirmed that 353 special needs school support staff positions had been filled without Access NI checks in place.
At the time of publication of their press release, they said: “This number is more than 200 per cent higher than the 108 posts filled without child safety checks in place which was confirmed by FOI responses from the 39 special needs schools in January of this year.”
In response, the EA said on Tuesday that the figures issued to the union in response to their FOI request have been taken out of context.
Explaining the issue, the EA said the statistics related to temporary school support staff across the whole education system.
In addition to classroom assistants, this included a range of other staff groups (for example admin staff, cleaners, catering staff, instrumental tutors and EA headquarters staff).
The EA say that Unite the Union “wrongly claimed that the total relates solely to special school support staff”.
And they added: “At best, this represents a fundamental misunderstanding of the information.
“The union then compared the overall system wide figure to an earlier figure, from January, relating only to special schools and falsely claimed a 200% increase. Another basic inaccuracy.
“Whatever the reason for this misinterpretation, it risks spreading unfounded fear among parents.”
In clarification of the data released, the EA continued: “To be clear, figures cited by the union in January related to 108 classroom assistants in special schools awaiting clearance. Today, that figure stands at 14. Unite has therefore presented an 87% reduction as a 200% increase.
“The average turnaround time for the issuing of Access NI certificate is five working days from presentation of all relevant paperwork.
“The number of staff employed through a temporary engagement form will constantly change. The total across the education system as of today is 173.
“The reality is that any large workforce will always require some temporary staff. For schools, sick leave and other problems will lead to vacancies arising unexpectedly and immediately.”
Acknowledging that Trade Union colleagues are “opposed to this approach”, the EA statement respects their right to hold this view but adds that it is “deeply regrettable that they have misstated the underlying facts in support of their position. This helps no one.”
It concludes: “Schools are able, on a short-term emergency basis, to engage staff but must submit documents for checks on day one. Schools are required to apply strict conditions and any emergency staff awaiting clearance are not permitted to have unsupervised contact with children.”
